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New Sigma FP cam?

Nevyn72

Nevyn72

LMF-Patron Gold
I'd guess this is a fake.

From DPReview's interview with Kazuto Yamaki at CP+ 2024:
"We are still in the design phase for the image sensor," he acknowledges: "When it comes to the sensor, the manufacturing process is very important: we need to develop a new manufacturing process for the new sensor. But as far as that’s concerned, we’re still doing the research. So it may require additional time to complete the development of the new sensor."
Click to expand...
https://www.dpreview.com/interviews/6004010220/sigma-full-frame-foveon

and from CineD's interview in 2023:
Yamaki-san also revealed that the Foveon sensor needs a very powerful processor, which also requires a lot of power. So in order to make this technology usable, SIGMA will need to couple this with a large and powerful battery, which in return will make the camera a lot larger than the current fp form factor.
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https://www.cined.com/sigma-intervi...ki-foveon-update-fp-camera-to-cloud-and-more/
 
As a Foveon fanboy, I would love to see a camera with a Foveon sensor in it. But more like the DP Merrill 1,2,3 sensor with that image quality.
 
I admit, I love my fp, but I’m not so convinced by the foveon sensor; from what I’ve read, it doesn’t do so well in low light, and that’s fairly important for me.

The biggest thing I’d want from a new fp would be a built-in EVF; the add-on works, but is clunky. IBIS would be nice, but I’ve got along fine without it. Same for a physical shutter, though admittedly I shoot very little action where rolling shutter is an issue.
 
Travis Butler said:
but I’m not so convinced by the foveon sensor; from what I’ve read, it doesn’t do so well in low light, and that’s fairly important for me.
Click to expand...

Yes, that is true. The "real" Foveon sensor of the Sigma Merrill generation was a kind of Diva. But when you have the right situation, the results were outstanding. Nothing I have ever seen with another sensor.

It was a difference like shooting through an open window vs. through a closed window. It was more "clean", more "transparent". It was more "real". Like if you would be there yourself and could touch it.

Even the older Sigma SD14 and SD15 cameras were outstanding, but even more difficult to handle.

I would not mind if a new Foveon sensor would be again APS-C size only. But it needs to be a "true" Favicon from the results like the Merrils.
 
I had a DP1m back in the day. It was a love/hate relationship! At base ISO and with a lot of patience on my part, it delivered fantastic images that, as Dirk says, had a certain "je ne sais quoi" about them. Like this:

14801408034_d88e5c5468_o.jpg
  • SIGMA - SIGMA DP1 Merrill
  • 19.0 mm
  • ƒ/8
  • 1/2 sec
  • Pattern
  • Auto exposure
  • 0.7
  • ISO 100

Tree Trunk Canyon by Paul Kaye, on Flickr

But apart from the IQ, it was a complete dog of a camera. Slow, terrible battery life, slow AF, no EVF, terrible noise from ISO 400 upwards, and slow (did I mention slow). On top of all that, you needed to use a raw processor called Sigma Photo Pro that was slow, slow, slow and lacking any decent features.

Sigma would have a lot of work to do to make Fovean into a workable camera I think.
 
It is very interesting. As a UX professional, I envy those who got to reinvent the experience of using a camera. Hopefully it works as good as it looks.

 
Well, it's... interesting...

I'm going to reserve judgment until I see more about the user interface, but even if it's the most intuitive thing ever, I have a hard time seeing the people it's targeted at (simple no-fuss shooters?) spending that much on a camera. o_O

It certainly looks cool; I like the unibody; the haptic controls could be cool or could be awful. (Apple's done good haptic controls, like the trackpad for their last 10 years of laptops. Dell tried making the function key row all-haptic on an XPS laptop a couple of years ago, and from what I heard it didn't work very well.) Unless the rear screen is a quantum leap over every other rear screen-only camera I've ever used, it's still going to suffer badly from the lack of an EVF.

Other than the screen, it seems like a camera I could have fun shooting with, especially after my time with the fp... but it's very much in 'fun second or third camera' territory; not a daily driver. And you really need a good pancake lens to go with it, which Sigma doesn't have right now.

Showed the announcement to a non-photographer friend of mine, and his reaction was "Well that price makes my hair turn grey. But the point is to be a low profile, simple camera?... Yeah, I think that mostly fits with people who prize form above all. I could see a lot of influencers get it. At a lower price point, I'd think that's a really nice idea for people who don't want a bulky camera, but want something a little more familiar than their smartphone."
 
It probably uses the S5ii processor so all good in that department.

The menu design is Leica-esque... Daumenhoch
 
I'll be interested in seeing what the imaging pipeline looks like; 24 MP suggests the same sensor as the fp, and the electronic shutter also sounds like the fp. Did they make any changes or improvements?
 
Travis Butler said:
I have a hard time seeing the people it's targeted at
Click to expand...
Conversely I don't, phones are not trendy any longer and there is a market in compact cameras again... Producing a luxury Apple style product like this could be very clever.

Plus now they've got to make a range of proper miniature L-mount pancakes to suit it which is good for us.

I've given up speculating on the future but my immediate gut responsewas this is good, much better than the S9.

Still to this day everyone copying Apple... Put this next to a Mac Mini or iMac and you'll see what I mean.

Great week for L-mount all around Z04 CarrotZ04 Breakdance.gifz04 dance00Z04 Discosmilie
 
Travis Butler said:
I'll be interested in seeing what the imaging pipeline looks like; 24 MP suggests the same sensor as the fp, and the electronic shutter also sounds like the fp. Did they make any changes or improvements?
Click to expand...
It has PDAF and what seems to be similar video specs as S9 without IBIS so why wouldn't they use that as it already exists, tried and tested? Basically a much sleeker S9 without the off-putting menu complications which for casual people is a nightmare.

It's very clever doing a Leica style menu and built-in 320GB also very nice. I only have 128GB card in S5ii and it's loads.
 
Oíche said:
Conversely I don't, phones are not trendy any longer and there is a market in compact cameras again... Producing a luxury Apple style product like this could be very clever.
Click to expand...
I dunno; some more people chimed in after the guy I mentioned in the post above, and the reaction was universally 'This could be cool, but no way I or anyone I know is spending $2K on a camera unless they seriously want to get into photography.'

IOW, it seems to be designed for a market - casual not-quite-photographers wanting a simple elegant camera, and also willing to spend $2000 on a camera - that I'm not sure exists.
Oíche said:
Plus now they've got to make a range of proper miniature L-mount pancakes to suit it which is good for us.
Click to expand...
This is true. :)
Oíche said:
Still to this day everyone copying Apple... Put this next to a Mac Mini or iMac and you'll see what I mean.
Click to expand...
I generally like Apple stuff a lot - typing this on an M2 MacBook Air - and it certainly shares the engineering style and attempts a similar simple elegance. I'd have to sit down and spend some time with one to see if they manage to capture that in actual operation; that's a lot harder than it looks. (As I noted above, haptics are tricky to get right.)
 
Oíche said:
It has PDAF
Click to expand...
Did it say PDAF? I thought I heard 'contrast detect autofocus' in the video.

(Yeah, just checked, at 2:00 it says 'contrast autofocus system.')

I'm certainly very happy with the IQ of the fp - it's by far my most-used camera - but it would be nice to see some reduction in the electronic shutter artifacts. And autofocus on the fp is not really speedy. :)
 
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